Toys 'R' Us Promotes Urcelay to CEO to Guide Turnaround

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Toys “R” Us Inc., the retailer
that canceled its initial public offering earlier this year amid
declining sales, named Antonio Urcelay, its interim chief
executive officer, to the role on a permanent basis.

Urcelay, 61, who joined Toys “R” Us in 1996, had been
serving as CEO temporarily since May after Gerald Storch stepped
down. Hank Mullany, 55, was also appointed as president of its
U.S. division, its largest unit with more than 850 stores, the
Wayne, New Jersey-based retailer said in a statement.

The world’s largest toy-store chain is entering a critical
holiday-shopping season when it needs to show it can increase
sales after posting eight straight quarterly declines in
revenue. Toys “R” Us pulled its IPO in March, citing
“unfavorable market conditions” after first filing with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010. The reversal
followed a decline in revenue during the holidays and Storch’s
subsequent resignation.

Urcelay’s appointment is effective immediately and Mullany,
who joins from ServiceMaster Co., a residential and commercial
service business where he was CEO, takes up his post on Nov. 5.

Toys “R” Us, which is owned by Bain Capital Partners LLC,
KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust, has been hurt by increased
competition from rivals, including Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., offering lower prices. The retailer has said this
holiday season it will match prices, whether in stores or
online, with retailers including Wal-Mart, Target Corp. and
Amazon.